Dance Recital & Strawberry Cupcakes

Our niece had her first ballet recital on Sunday.  The recital took place at a high school theater and was estimated to last about two hours.  Since we didn't feel Sam could sit through that long of a performance (our niece's dance wasn't until the second act), and Sam wasn't feeling well, he stayed home with my husband, and I took James to the recital with me.  I was impressed with how well James did overall...even with him asking me twice in the first six dances "Is it over yet?"  James sat nicely on my lap and for the most part sat quietly throughout the whole performance.  We did leave after my niece's performance because my brother and sister-in-law were pulling my niece out and leaving at that point.  During intermission, I called my husband and notified him that plans had changed (long story), and he should head over to the high school with the cupcakes I had made for my niece as a special something for her recital.  After we had cupcakes together, my niece and her family left, and the rest of us had dinner together at a spaghetti place.

However, let's talk about these cupcakes for a minute.  I decided I wanted to make from scratch strawberry cupcakes for my niece because she loves strawberries, and she is also a huge fan of the color pink.  I used the recipe on Smitten Kitchen for Pink Lady Cake.  The only changes I made was to use fresh strawberries that I pureed (since they are in season right now), used all purpose flour (just reduced the amount to 4 1/4 cup instead), and made cupcakes instead of a layered cake.  I found my cupcakes needed to bake for 20 minutes before they were done.

I used the cream cheese frosting recipe listed for this cake except I ended up adding far more sifted powdered sugar to get the right consistency for piping the cupcakes, and I dyed the frosting pink as well.  I wanted to test out some of my frosting tips because I am unfamiliar with what they do, so I purposefully used multiple decorating tips to get a feel for them.  I kept the overall designs simple...going with the idea of creating tutus on the cupcakes.  This probably would have been more ideal with a butter cream type frosting because it is stiffer; however, the cream cheese frosting complimented the cupcakes perfectly.  The strawberry flavor was incredible, and the cupcakes were light and moist (the consistency you expect from boxed cakes).  My family thought the cupcakes were delicious, and I plan on using this strawberry cake recipe in the future for sure.